Xerox people have long been active in helping advance education -- and particularly education in the technology and printing industries. Supporting that commitment, Xerox recently donated three printers to two organizations in the United States.

During the 2006 AIIM & On Demand trade show and conference in Philadelphia in May, Xerox joined with 16 other technology companies to donate the latest high-tech equipment to a local high school. Each year AIIM organizers support a local education-related charity or nonprofit.

The school - called The School of the Future - is a new public high school slated to open in fall 2006. Xerox gave the school a Xerox WorkCentre™ C2424 color multifunction system and a Xerox Phaser™ 8500 color printer. Both office products align with the school's mission to operate a state-of-the-art facility that incorporates the latest technologies to enhance its academic programs.

"I would like to thank the AIIM & On Demand Expos and its exhibitors for investing in our school children," said Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street. "Giving young people an opportunity to learn using the most innovative technology will ultimately enrich their lives forever."

Earlier this spring, Xerox donated its flagship Xerox iGen3™ 110 Digital Production Press to the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) in Sewickley, Pa. The high-speed Xerox iGen3 110 was delivered concurrently with a C.P. Bourg Book Factory and Press-Sense iWay Web-to-print software, enabling the organization to develop two of the industry's hottest applications: digital color book manufacturing and automated Web-to-print fulfillment systems.

PIA/GATF is a nonprofit trade association dedicated to the advancement of the graphic communications industry worldwide, with more than 12,000 member companies. The PIA/GATF pressroom is where the organization conducts training for industry professionals, tests the capabilities of equipment, and prints its own newsletters, white papers, literature and books. It is stocked with $25 million worth of printing equipment, most donated by manufacturers.

"As much as digital equipment has had a presence, a truly state-of-the-art digital color press was conspicuous by its absence," said PIA/GATF president and CEO Michael Makin.

The Xerox iGen3 110 press will be "one of the centerpieces of our educational offerings," which will train hundreds of professionals every year, through any of 40 multi-day seminars, Makin said. "This is a marquee piece of equipment. Participants need to see firsthand how it works, what its advantages are and what it can mean to their businesses."

In addition to a limited number of strategic equipment donations every year, other Xerox education outreach programs include support for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program, an international robotics competition for high-school students, and for FIRST Lego League middle-school teams. Through the Xerox Science Consultant Program, researchers are given time off to teach science classes in local elementary-school classrooms. And at the college level, Xerox supports internships, collaborative research projects, and scholarships for minority students pursuing technical degrees.

You can donate your used Xerox office printer to help clients of the National Cristina Foundation; to find out more, visit www.office.xerox.com/programs/ncf.html.

For more information on philanthropy at Xerox, visit www.xerox.com/foundation.